Kavanaugh will uphold Constitution

When President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be our next Supreme Court justice, he selected a voice that exemplifies values the people of Maine hold dear. He is a man of high character and a leader with extraordinary integrity.

Take a glance at his resume: a two-time Yale grad, former associate White House counsel, a career serving the public that spans nearly 30 years with 300 judicial opinions written. Kavanaugh is a brilliant mind and has dedicated his life to upholding the law unequivocally. A family man with two young daughters, he embodies the morals and values needed to serve on the highest court in the land with the respect and dignity it demands.

The people of Maine deserve a Supreme Court justice of the highest credibility. As a state of independent thinkers, Maine craves a justice like Kavanaugh who will uphold the Constitution and who understands the role of an effective jurist. Kavanaugh is the right choice for Maine, and the right choice to continue to serve the nation.

Sarah Stevens

China

Give Trump a chance

So, based on an anonymous OpEd in the New York Times, the BDN editorial board members are saying that President Donald Trump is unfit to be president. Well, I guess that I can state that the BDN editorial board is unfit to be listened to, based on what I read.

I did not vote for Trump, and that is no secret since I already admitted that to White House officials, but I will support him when he is right. The BDN does not seem to do so. He is not hungover from alcohol, nor does he have a marijuana or cigarette smoking past (unlike the most recent ex-president). Find the good in what he has accomplished, being of sound mind and having a fervent love for America and her people.

His most recent nominee to the Supreme Court is most likely not the BDN’s choice, but it seems that Judge Brett Kavanaugh has more intelligence, integrity and grace than any of the Democrat questioners I have heard. May “God bless America, land that I love; stand beside her and guide her, through the night with a light from above.”

Sharon Rideout

Hermon

Mackey Andrews for Maine Senate

Recently, I had the pleasure of accompanying Senate District 4 candidate Sue Mackey Andrews while she visited homes in the Milo area. We encountered many people, some doing quite well while others faced various issues. These issues included health, loss of employment because of poor health, housing that is less than adequate, and an inability to maintain adequate housing because of fixed incomes. Mackey Andrews listens carefully to her potential future constituents and notes issues that some agencies in the county might be able to handle for these people.

Mackey Andrews’ approach to problems is to focus on the people who need help and the persons and agencies that provide this help. She recognizes that good educational facilities including tech schools and meaningful, adequately paid employment opportunities are the bedrock of a viable future for Piscataquis County.

I urge everyone in Senate District 4 to vote for Mackey Andrews. She will bring a fresh, thoughtful and vibrant approach to the Maine Senate in order to truly represent all of the district’s residents.

David Ziemer

Orneville

Angus King a medical pot advocate

I am a Vietnam War veteran who has served in the Army and the Coast Guard. For the past two years, I have been using medicinal marijuana to alleviate serious health complications that I suffered during my years of service. Through all the discord, I have found Sen. Angus King to be an advocate for responsible scientific research into the medicinal effects of marijuana for veterans.

I have had the challenging task of living with post-traumatic stress disorder and a chronic spinal injury since retiring from military service. My first answer was alcohol — it was the cheapest and most effective way to numb the pain. My second solution was opiates and PTSD medication, but the crippling side effects of these drugs made it hard for me to leave the house and live a normal life.

It was difficult for me at first to try medicinal marijuana because of the stigma. But after I consulted a doctor and tried marijuana in prescribed doses, I found the positive effects to be immediate and profound.

Thanks to medicinal marijuana, I am able to sleep soundly, manage my pain and PTSD, and live a regular lifestyle. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and the VA, but I am incredibly grateful for politicians like King who look with clear eyes at the potential benefits of a medicine that will help veterans in need.

I am voting for King in November so that he can continue to fight for the research that will help unlock this medicine’s availability to more veterans like me.

Daniel Gatchell

Brunswick

NYT OpEd a historical tradition

History disagrees with that statement, as there has been a place for it since even before our Constitution was signed by the needed number of states. It was customary for people to publish persuasive arguments by means of aliases or pen names. The Federalist Papers were originally published anonymously to explain the meaning of the Constitution, and they have been used for legal interpretations to our time. Such people as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton engaged in anonymous publications to make points and to inform people who were not involved with the legislature’s daily machinations about exactly what was going on and who was doing what and to attack their opponents.

In addition, Congress has been dysfunctional since the very beginning as the rural, farm areas opposed the business, financial proponents of a federal versus a state’s rights form of government. All that was 220 to 230 years ago, and nothing has changed other than people forget and do not recall their history so as to believe other idealized ideas for a utopian government.

One of the best presentations of all this history is to be found in Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton.